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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: club · race · clip · face · field · pop · stock · stem

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. field — a subject
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. race — the arms race
  5. face — to point toward
  6. stock — shares
  7. race — a contest
  8. club — for golf
  9. face — to confront
  10. stock — goods
  11. club — a group
  12. club — for dancing
  13. face — part of the head
  14. pop — soda
  15. field — for sport
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. pop — to visit
  18. clip — for paper
  19. race — humankind
  20. field — farmland
  21. clip — a video
  22. pop — music
  23. clip — to cut
  24. stem — a stem cell

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com